Phuket Town

My parents decided to go for a trip to Phuket Town after spotting the cheap buses near the entrance to Kata Beach one day. There are a couple of timings for these buses and be sure to arrive on time :)


This is the blue bus that I was talking about.


It only cost 30baht and it takes about an hour or so to reach Phuket Town. There are various buses to different parts of Phuket, e.g. Patong etc. With that, you should also bear in mind that this is not the fastest or most comfortable mode of transportation (some squeezing involved!) as these buses mainly catered for locals. Unfortunately for us, there was a downpour half way through our journey and we were quite drenched by then. But it is quite an experience!

When we reach Phuket Town, 2 local uncles approached us and offered to show us around for 50baht. Papa and mama were really apprehensive at the beginning, but decided to try it since we didn't have any plans on what to do in Phuket Town then.




So we boarded the Tuk Tuk. hoho

The first place they brought us to was Phuket View Point.




It is quite a nice view. We stayed there for 15 minutes, taking in the pretty views and...




to say hi to these sleepy friends of mine!

Next stop, a Buddhist temple with a big golden Buddha. The temple is really pretty. Mama was really conscious of her dress code (she was wearing shorts) when we reached there as the dress code should be conservative to show respect.







Fellow kitten in the temple.


Views of Phuket Town. Laid back and rustic :)


The uncles brought us to the butterfly world. However, papa and mama decided not to go in as they are not too keen. Instead, they requested the uncles to bring them to the honey outlet store.


Here we are! Here is my huge girlfriend!


The staff lead us to a room where they let us sample some of their honey products and explain the nutritious value to us. This seems to be quite a popular place as we met quite a number of tour groups here.

Next up! Cashew Nut Outlet!


Apparently, according to the sales person, the cashew nuts are all cracked open by manually. There are cashew nuts in different flavor. There are also other products sold there, e.g. prepacked tom yam ingredients.

Following which, the uncles started bringing us to various jewellery outlets (pearl, diamonds, you name it they have it). Papa and mama did not enjoy this leg of the trip, so they decided to ask the uncles to bring them back to the blue bus pick up point. But the uncles told them that they actually get commission for bring tourist to these places. Thus, papa and mama decided to help the uncles by visiting the outlets (about 4 to 5 of them).


Papa got me one seashell necklace at one of the shops. It is overpriced. But oh wells! We are on a holiday!! :)

And with this, we concluded our day trip to Phuket town, with loads of local products to share with our family back in Singapore.

Next: Phi Phi Island Day Trip
Back to Main: Phuket - Kata

Kata Beach

If you want a beach with great views and fine sand to relax for your trip to Phuket, I have a great recommendation! Kata beach will win hands down! I spent a good amount of time there with my parents as they really enjoy lazing around in the sun, feeling the soft white fine sand with their toes and taking in the splendid views Kata beach have to offer.

From Metadee Resort (or any other resorts in the vicinity), all you have to do is to get to the main street, turn to your left and continue walking until you see Kata Beach Resort. One of the entrance to the beach is right here.



Here are some photos of Kata beach to proof my point!









Remember to put on loads of sunblock and don't forget your sunnies! :)






As we were there during their low season (May) and tides may be on the rough side, it is important to take note of the flags raised by the guards. Red flag signifies danger and it is not recommended to play in the sea. But there were still many people who took the risk for a cooling dip in the sea.

There are a good number of street food vendors at the Kata Beach Resort entrance. Personally, I have a thing for snacks stalls, selling a variety of barbeque food, ranging from sausages to exotic snacks such as chicken heart. One of my recommendations is the barbeque chicken drumstick/wing. It is the best kind of food you would possibly wish for at any time of the day. It is generally barbequed before hand and they will heat up and wrap it in a banana leaf for you.



Feeling dehydrated? There are various beach side drinks stall which are able to whip up a pineapple shake for you.


Rental of beach chairs is pretty easy, there will be plenty of vendors (holding brushes - used to brush sand off the beach chairs) who will approach you. It costs approximately 100baht for a day rental of these chairs.

There are plenty of street vendors around, selling sarongs, pearls, drawings, salted corn etc. Papa bought 2 corns to fill our stomach and it turned out to be pretty interesting!




Papa started feeding the small birds who were hopping around our beach chairs.






And one of them even got so brave to jump onto our beach chair and onto our bag.

Next: Phuket Town
Back to Main: Phuket - Kata

Metadee Resort

For this trip, papa and mama placed a reservation at Metadee Resort in Kata. It is a coincidence that Metadee Resort is also known as Happy Resort. Mine! All Mine!! :):)

Getting around in the airport is very straight forward, just follow the signs/crowd and you cant get lost. As Kata is at the southern portion of the island, the taxi fare is going to be hefty. So mama did some research before hand, and decided to go with the yellow and red "metered taxi", found at the extreme end after you make a right turn after exiting the airport. There are plenty of taxi services available as you make your way down the stretch. If you already have something in mind, just smile and "thank you". Thais are really friendly and most, if not, all the time, they will return a "thank you".

P.S. In the airport, you may want to pick up the free SIM card provided by a thai tele service provider if it works out to be cheaper for you to call home using a local SIM.

A top up can be done at any convenience store.

The taxi trip to Kata is approximately 650 baht. Mama has really lousy memory so she cant remember what was the exact amount she paid. Not too sure if this amount includes the 100baht airport transfer fee. But basically, after you reached the red and yellow booth at the end, they will quote you an amount when you tell them your destination. I thought it is supposed to be metered? oh wells.


So here we are, on the cab to Kata.


Nice views for this relatively long ride (approx 1 hour). Up and down slope at near neck breaking speed :)


From the main street, you have to conquer this long stretch of road before you reach the resort entrance. Ok if you love sweating out in the blistering sun. I personally feel it is a little too long. It is a 5 to 10 minutes walk out. There are a number of shops along this stretch - laundry service (affordable!), tailor (who holler "hello brother!" every time they see you), fish spa, massage shops.


Here we are at the resort, with the resident bird at the resort entrance.


Here we are! So exciting!

Ooops sudden jump of photos! Papa and mama was so busy checking in that they did not take any photos. The counter staff gave them nice and sweet drinks though. Where s mine!!!


The resort staff drove us to our room using a golf buggy! Cool!


View from the buggy. The resort looks FABULOUS!


The way to our second level room.. The staircase is only shared by a couple of rooms, so there is less worries of noisy neighbors partying in the corridor.


Wooden wind chime at the door that goes koolok koolok. Extremely pleasing to my furry ears :)


This is our room! The Deluxe Pool View Room. We paid approx 11.5k baht for 4 nights under their special offer (Special Summer Deals).


That's me! In MY room! Where are the towel swans and elephants for me to pounce on? There are also princess canopy (or rather, pretty mosquito nets)!


Walk way into the room. The room is tastefully decorated with wooden and rattan furniture.

Into the toilet we go..

The sparking clean bathtub sitting in the middle of the huge bathroom.


For those who doesn't like using the bathtub, a standing shower (with rain shower) is also available.




There are the views from our room. Fantastic isn't it?


ME!!! :)


Hello? Yes. Let me take your message.

Let me show you other parts of the resort! Really pretty!






This is the Himmaphan (meaning Cashew in Thai) restaurant, where we have our daily buffet breakfast. Lunch and Dinner menus are also available here. During dinner time, there is a live band who will walk around each table spicing up the night with the lovely tunes.


That's my waiting for my breakfast


The breakfast buffet variety is sufficient, but not what I would call a wide spread. But it is fine for me as I would like to save a part of my stomach for the delicious street food later.


A highly reflected picture of the breakfast buffet spread.




The beautiful pool! This is definitely a good place for relaxation! Rubber floats are also available. I had a great time floating on one of those without getting wet!










I love tanning!




There is also a pool side bar. Not too sure if the drinks are nice as papa and mama didn't try it.


There is also a small gym, which is seldom used by anyone. I only caught a glimpse of a guy using it during my entire stay at Metadee.

On the whole, Metadee is a great place for couples who would want to have a quiet and relaxing time, away from the hustle and bustle. The location and mosquitoes may not be such a good idea for families with young kids.

Next: Kata Beach
Back to Main: Phuket - Kata